Investigators yesterday questioned former policeman Eldad Hadad at Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, in connection with the shooting incident on Saturday that left him moderately to seriously wounded.

Police investigators have also summoned a number of others suspected of involvement in the incident, most with ties to known criminal Michael Mor.

No arrests have been made and none of the suspects has been remanded in custody. Furthermore, the one suspect detained on Saturday night has been released to house arrest for three days.

The man, a 28-year-old Nahariya resident and associate of Mor, denies any involvement in the shooting near the synagogue where Eldad normally prays.

His lawyers, Yaheli Sperling and Doron Noy, told Haaretz that their client had an alibi that proved he was elsewhere at the time of the shooting.

Mor, who is represented by the same lawyers, also denies any connection to the incident.

Hadad remains in the hospital's intensive care unit after undergoing a series of operations.

He is expected to undergo further surgery over the coming days. According to ICU director Dr. Nicola Makhoul, Hadad was lucky to survive.

Hadad's family, for their part, have been keeping vigil at his bedside and have expressed their anger and frustration concerning the incident.

"You shouldn't be asking us questions," they say. "The police and the [security] system should be asked how they protect police officers and their families."

Late Saturday night, Hadad was visited in hospital by the three former policemen who were involved with him in 2006 in placing an explosive device under the car and near the window of a home belonging to Mor.

They were apparently taking revenge for a series of incidents in which grenades were thrown at the homes of police officers and public figures in Nahariya.

The four, who served a year in prison for their crime, were released in April.

"It's a terrible feeling," said Rami Mussa, one of the four. "I hope that Eldad recovers very quickly. And I hope too that the police will do their job properly and arrest the person responsible for the shooting."

Meanwhile, the police decided yesterday to beef up security around the four former policemen and their families.

"Routine for us is not regular routine," another of the four former policemen, Yaniv Ashur, told Haaretz. "For the past 10 years, we have been forced to watch out for ourselves, and clearly after this incident, we are even more cautious."

Nevertheless, neither Ashur nor Yossi Levy, the fourth former policeman who did time for the attack on Mor, has changed their daily routines; both said they sent their children to summer camp as usual. "We are more cautious, but we do not want to stress out our families, and particularly not the children," Levy said. "We hope it all ends quickly, because we also want to get back to our routines."

All four have voiced complaints that their personal weapons were confiscated following their conviction and imprisonment. Hadad told his family that if he had had a gun, he would have used it during the incident.

Requests from the four to be reinstated in the police are under consideration by the public security minister and the ministry's legal advisor.

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